I recently attended the funeral of a dear lady who had been a member of our church. She had moved down to East Anglia as she was living with dementia which had progressed to the stage where she was unable to continue living on her own. When I first met her it was clear that she had significant memory problems and very soon she moved to Norwood Methodist Home. Her last few years were particularly difficult for her and her family as she was bed bound and unable to communicate verbally.
At her funeral it was evident from what everybody said that this lady was a woman of deep and sincere faith, which she lived out in all she did and said. Her particular gift was in hospitality and quietly caring for her neighbour, in so many different settings.
Her son shared with me a piece of paper that described the many different ways his mother lived out her faith. On first reading they may seem like ordinary things, but what struck me was how many things she had listed, many of them, if not all, were activities that went on outside the church building and not on a Sunday.
This lady was an accomplished artist and teacher as well as a wife and mother of four children, a busy lady. The other thing that struck me about her list was that although these things were “ordinary” she saw each one as God working through her – giving lifts to the hospital, the shops or to church, cake baking, fundraising for disability charities, babysitting, house group organising, teaching and art exhibitions, hospital visiting, shopping for a sick friend, bereavement visits, were just some of the things on her list.
If you were to draw a similar chart what would be the things that you do that would be a witness of God working through you?
Prayer: Loving God, we give thanks for those whose lives are a shining example of how you work through us. Forgive us when we make excuses or think what we do has no value. Help us to recognise how you can work through each one of us in our everyday ordinary activities. Amen